How to navigate the maps?

[pilgrim* 3514]

OK - navigate Dayz: thte real way.
FIRST: Check the server time before you log in !

FIRST: Anything that works in real life works in DayZ. This is a good thing I like about the game.

Night - Pole Star (directly North). In the game it's easy to see in a clear sky - There are only a few stars in the DayZ sky (not hundreds)
so check out how to find the Pole Star (Wikepedia?) then log in at night and find it.

Day - at dawn the sun rises in the East and at nightfall it sets in the West, in DayZ this looks as if the dawn comes from the SE and the sun sets in the SW (because normally you cant see the exact time of sunrise/sunset, right?)

Chernarus is in the Northern Hemisphere - so most of the day the sun is going to be somewhere towards the South of you (right? you understand why?
- because between sunrise and sunset you are located north of the sun's path through the sky. )
During a day the sun's path goes from East, passes to the South of you, and moves on to the West.

 At noon it will be directly South.
So - check the server time before you log in

ATM servers have dawn around 6 am, sunset around 6 pm -  sunrise is East, sunset is West
So draw (or imagine) an upward semicircle, like a ' U ' The Left end is 6am (East), the right end is 6pm (West)
The middle of the bottom of the semi-circle is 12 Noon (South)

So you can figure out - if server time is 9am, the sun will be South-East
if server time is 3 pm - the sun will be South-West

This is a good rough guide for direction.. it's good enough for general pathfinding.

Best way to be sure of the sun's location is look at the shadow of a tall tree. It points exactly away from the sun.
Best way to move when you have decided which way to go, is - when you have your heading, see where your own shadow is..
for instance - if it is on the ground a little to the left of you , then keep it just there as you move - so you know you're going in a straight line.
If you get turned around by mistake, or zig-zag, turn around again until your shadow is back where it was.. then you are back on your chosen heading.

this is without using a compass. If you have a doubt about your compass check it against a tree shadow. (you still know what the server time is, right?)

analog watches are a good to find direction (boy-scout) works well. I hope watches will be in the game soon. AND they will tell you server-time without you having to think or check.
(On the DayZ Mod, Public buildings had clocks on them that told server-time. those were cool too. Can we have them back? - but I'd rather have a watch, given the choice.)

*

If you navigate by clouds in DayZ SA, use LOW clouds drifting in a straight line - they move exactly East -> West towards the Chernarus coast (but some say exactly West->East on these forums, and ... some say they sometimes go West->East and sometimes East->West. So check it out, adventurer.  This is the only 'unrealistic' navigation aid in DayZ.
Warning - The high 'sky box' clouds move around and change direction strangely, don't try to follow them it will just make you ill.
Check this out for yourself so you know how it works.

If you are lost head East until you find the coast. The coast map and town locations are easy to remember.
In the whole area of the map near the coast valleys are oriented West-East
From many high locations on the map you can see the sea, even quite far away.
Otherwise head to the West map edge, that orients you exactly north-south, follow it North you come to towns, follow the edge South you come to forest and then the South coast.

Like in real life - if it's raining and you have 60m visibility, and no shadows, it's going to be difficult. But that's a problem a hundred-zillion people have had to deal with since the Dawn of Time.

Get yourself a compass, make life easy for yourself.

I only use in-game maps when I'm playing. Using a side-map is jus' cheapskate.. (sorry dudes, are you city folk ever gonna learn anything?)
But before I log in, I check a web map and decide where I'm going to go, what I want to do. I try to remember some important details. I notice that if I head (say) West, i'm going to find a large road, turn left and stay on this side of the road and I'm heading to X-town, cross the road and go on West and I'll be in Green Mountain area (you can see the GM mast for miles) ... stuff like that. Then in the game I do it from memory. This seems fair to me. It's what you'd do before heading into a new territory, look at a map before you log and plan where you're going. Makes for more interest and excitement.

You already know the names of the big/medium towns, right? - at least in a couple of main sections of the country - so move around for a week and you will recognise their names on the road signs.. But do NOT stand in front of a roadsign figuring what it means, someone will shoot you.

If you're really lost, climb a high ridge and check what you can see.. there are plenty of landmarks. Each hill and each town, each road junction, is unique. Big roads go to medium and large towns (stay in the treeline when you follow a road).

If you want to do this stuff - remember water locations. There are plenty but many are not obvious to find. Once you know them, you're cool.  Carry at least one bottle. Refill it from rain. Two water bottles and a bag of rice can get you anywhere on the map even if you find nothing else. (eat berries and apples if you have to, and in rain beware of hypothermia (yellow raincoat not damaged can save you). That's about all you need.
If you have the stuff to make fire you're pretty safe and can go as far as you like without risk (except  other players)
Looking at an out-of game map while you're playing is .. sad, I think. Finding your way around is one of the interesting parts of the game.  

Last advice - don't hide your tent or navigate by 'recognizing' a group of trees as a landmark - because various same tree shapes are repeatedly generated across the map and somewhere (maybe close) you might find exactly the same trees (in the wrong place).. so don't trust the tree with the broken branch growing next to the white tree and the 2 bushes..  instead trust road junctions and houses and geographic features.

You will learn your usual routes fast -> for water, loot, quiet areas, hunting areas, dangerous places..

BUT if you want to play simple .. just go East to the coast, and up the coast to Berezino and all points north of there.. cant miss it. Can't miss them - They won't miss you either.
BUT in that case, who needs to navigate? Say hello to zombies or jump off roofs till you spawn in ya' Deathmatch.

xx pilgrim

(if any of this is wrong, someone put me straight please, thanx)

also thanks to all the players who have said it all before on these forums. Good people.

Edited January 20, 2015 by pilgrim

[Kirov (DayZ) 585]

I only use in-game maps when I'm playing. Using a side-map is jus' cheapskate.. (sorry dudes, are you city folk ever gonna learn anything?)

 

Relax, both maps are just maps. Reading dayzdb is still reading a map, not listening to a virtual bot guiding you by hand through Chernarus with a soothing voice. And if you have an actual tourist map at home (scale 1:50 000 or similar), you can see for yourself that the in-game map is actually a piece of crap in terms of precision and legend.

 

Otherwise, great advice, I need to check out the clouds myself, didn't know that.

[eno 1049]

Looking at an out-of game map while you're playing is .. sad, I think. Finding your way around is one of the interesting parts of the game.  

 

Probably one of the best posts on the subject I've ever seen- except this part. 

 

I haven't tested it yet but I just read that when you open the in game map up it centers on your location... if that's true then sort of makes the whole matter moot. Not to mention the fact that the online map doesn't show you where you are- you still need to be able to navigate using terrain features and landmarks.

 

 

I'm sticking to familiar areas and learning the features / landmarks by heart so not only do I not need a compass... I don't need a map. 

Edited January 19, 2015 by ENO75

[TehMJB 2]

Shift tab opens up that Steam interface... Alt-Tab takes you out of the game to your open windows... one of which can be the DayzDB map. 

You can use the steam interface to open a web browser. I find this way better cos you don't have to close the game.

[Kirov (DayZ) 585]

Probably one of the best posts on the subject I've ever seen- except this part. 

 

I haven't tested it yet but I just read that when you open the in game map up it centers on your location... if that's true then sort of makes the whole matter moot. Not to mention the fact that the online map doesn't show you where you are- you still need to be able to navigate using terrain features and landmarks.

 

 

I'm sure the in game map does not center on your location. Maybe, maybe when you first appear on the server, but even that I doubt. But I'm sure I had to scroll it today and you're right - if it behaved like that, it would be actually much cheaper trick than dayzdb.

 

However, I was using the ingame map a lot and on few occasions noticed something weird. Sometimes I noticed a yellow circle which indicated my position and moved when I moved. When I changed the server, it disappeared. I have no idea what it was, but my guess is it had something to do with the planned GPS gizmo. Haven't seen it for months now.